Playoff picture: NASCAR Xfinity Series after Sonoma
More than half of the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season is complete after Sonoma.
Fourteen races have been complete with a dozen left before the playoffs start at Kansas on Sept. 28.
If the playoffs started today, Austin Hill and Justin Allgaier would be tied as the leaders with 2,022 points. Hill would have the tiebreaker.
Six of the playoff spots would be occupied by drivers with at least one win this year.
Playoff grid after Sonoma
Austin Hill – 2,022 (10 from regular season points, 2 race wins, 2 stage wins)
Justin Allgaier – 2,022 (7 from regular season, 1 race win, 10 stage wins)
Chandler Smith – 2,021 (8 from regular season, 2 race wins, 3 stage wins)
Cole Custer – 2,017 (15 from regular season, 2 stage wins)
Jesse Love – 2,015 (6 from regular season, 1 race win, 4 stage wins)
Shane Van Gisbergen – 2,012 (1 from regular season, 2 race wins, 1 stage win)
Sam Mayer – 2,005 (1 win)
A.J. Allmendinger – 2,005 (5 from regular season)
Riley Herbst – 2,005 (4 from regular season, 1 stage win)
Sheldon Creed – 2,003 (3 from regular season)
Parker Kligerman – 2,003 (2 from regular season, 1 stage win)
Sammy Smith – 2,000
Smith had an axle issue at Sonoma that ate up some of his cushion for the playoff spot he currently holds:
Smith is 11 points ahead of Ryan Sieg and 30 points ahead of Brandon Jones who crashed out for the second week in a row. 31 points back of Smith is Anthony Alfredo. He is the last driver below the cutline who is within a maximum points day worth of points without winning (54) of the cutline.
Playoffs explained
When the playoffs start, each of the 12 playoff-eligible drivers will have their points reset to 2,000, with additional points awards for regular season point standings finish, stage wins, and race victories.
Drivers who finished first through 10th in points would earn additional stage points (1 point for 10th, 2 points for 9th, and so forth, increasing by one point increments through third place; second would get 10 points, while the regular season champion would get 15).
Stage wins earn one point while race victories earn five points.
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Dominic Aragon View All
Dominic Aragon is currently the editor-in-chief for The Racing Experts.
From Grants, New Mexico, USA, Aragon started watching NASCAR in 2004 and has been covering the sport since 2009. Aragon is a 2012 graduate of Grants High School and a May 2016 graduate of the University of New Mexico with a B.A. in Mass Communications & Journalism. Aragon has worked in local and national media, as a musician, and an educator. He is co-author of the 2024 book "All of It: Daytona 500 Champion Tells the Rest of the Story" with racer Geoff Bodine.
Aragon, his wife Feliz, and son Christopher currently reside in Grants, New Mexico, USA.
You can reach Dominic at daragon@theracingexperts.net.